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Letter: Can't survive as nation of greed when less fortunate in need, he says

By Martin Gaslin, Ellsworth on Aug 29, 2012 at 8:55 a.m.

TO THE EDITOR: Last week, a Mr. Vande Yacht wrote glowing praise of Medicare.

His life was so good. He seemed absolutely giddy that the majority of his medical bills were covered by society at large.

I'm sure at age 68 he paid his fair share into Medicare. His money was pooled to help complete strangers with medical bills. After open heart surgery and a quadruple bypass, I'm confident he did not contribute enough in his lifetime to cover the entire bill. That surgery is real expensive.

He was only left with "modest" co-pays. We paid the rest of his bill. You and I. I'm fine with that, I may, or may not need that surgery someday. You may too.

Now he supports the Ryan/Romney ticket, who pledges to end Medicare as we know it. What worked really great for him is not good enough for those who come after him. Just think if every American thought this way. It would take the "United" out of the USA.

Contrast that to the firemen I passed today in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood of St. Paul. They were at a stop light with their boots out collecting money. I rolled down my window and threw in the cash I had on hand. These men were on their own time collecting money for people they did not know. The true spirit of the generous American people at its finest.

If we all lived life thinking only of what other Americans could do for us, what would that say about America? Would we really be the exceptional nation we all like to believe or would we be a nation of people who say, "I got mine, forget the rest of you."

We cannot survive as a nation of greed when less fortunate Americans are in need.